


Misunderstandings

by TimelessMystery



Category: My Time At Portia (Video Game)
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, F/M, Light Angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-28
Updated: 2020-04-28
Packaged: 2021-03-02 04:54:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,295
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23889298
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TimelessMystery/pseuds/TimelessMystery
Summary: Olivia and Arlo have been spending a lot of time together recently. She's really starting to fall for Arlo and is ready to give him a heart knot, but her plans get derailed when she sees something unexpected one night by the well. Is this something that she and Arlo can fix? Or will they have to part ways?
Relationships: Arlo/Builder (My Time At Portia), Arlo/Female Builder (My Time At Portia)
Comments: 5
Kudos: 57





	Misunderstandings

**Author's Note:**

> Hi everyone! This is the first time I've written anything in like 5 years and I'm super rusty. I hope that it isn't too terrible and that you guys enjoy it!
> 
> Thanks for reading!

As Olivia sat on her couch, enjoying her morning cup of coffee, she thought of Arlo and their blossoming relationship. They had been dating for almost a season and Olivia had never been happier. Dating wasn’t necessarily the correct way to describe their relationship, though. While they had gone on several dates and had made it to first base, they had yet to make anything official.

Olivia couldn’t help but smile, her stomach filling with butterflies as she thought about the last date they had been on. It wasn’t anything extravagant, but it was amazing all the same. Arlo had come over her house for dinner and after they ate, they cuddled together on the couch talking about anything and everything. Their talking quickly escalated into them kissing in ways that took Olivia’s breath away. It had gotten so far as to Arlo trailing kisses down her jaw and neck and ended with him sucking a mark at the base of her neck that was just barely covered by her shirt. She was slightly disappointed that things hadn’t gone any further, but she was understanding of the fact that Arlo had to do his job. Higgins had commissioned so many materials from the Sewage Plant that both Arlo and Remington had to work on fulfilling it, waking up as early as possible to ensure that they would be able to collect all of the materials in one day.

Their dates had been going really well and Olivia knew she was starting to really fall for Arlo. She had another date with him tonight and more butterflies joined the existing ones in her stomach as she went over the plan she had for this evening. The plan was to eat dinner at The Round Table and then go sit under the Wishing Tree where Olivia would give him a heart knot.

The plan was still tentative and she wasn’t fully confident that she would be able to pull it off. She would have ideally gone to Sam for advice about confessing her feelings, but her anxiety had gotten in the way. Sam was her best friend and she knew that she could trust her, but there was a small part of her that was terrified she would slip up and reveal her plan before she had a chance to execute it. Sam had known about the dates that she and Arlo had been on and was aware of the feelings she was starting to develop for the captain. She had faithfully kept those two secrets and she would absolutely keep Olivia’s plan to confess a secret. However, anxiety was a bitch and she wasn’t fully able to convince herself that it was okay to confide in her friend. She had to pilot this ship by herself.

Olivia finished up her coffee, putting the dirty mug in the sink. She had yet to actually buy the heart knot. She was going to go to Alice’s shop as soon as it opened, before the majority of the town had even left their houses. One of the drawbacks of living in such a small town was the fact that word spread fast and that everyone loved to gossip. If anyone were to see her purchasing the heart knot, the rumors would spread like wildfire. She didn’t feel like dealing with all of that today.

Leaving her house, she mentally prepared herself for her quest. She knew it was a simple task, but she had gotten herself so worked up that she was starting to feel the same level of anxiety she had felt when she ventured into the hazardous ruins for the first time. She took a deep, steadying breath and reminded herself that she could do this.

Everything would be fine.

Despite her attempt to calm down, Olivia’s anxiety heightened as she approached Alice’s shop. What if someone saw her buy the heart knot? What if someone told Arlo about it? What if Arlo didn’t want to talk to her anymore because he didn’t reciprocate her feelings?

She knew she was overthinking this whole situation. The majority of the residents would still be at home, getting themselves ready for the day. The people that were out and about wouldn’t even notice what she was purchasing. If they did notice, they most likely wouldn’t know the intended recipient. Since Olivia and Arlo had yet to make anything official, the majority of the people in town weren’t even aware they had been going on dates. They kept their PDA to a minimum, Arlo wanting to remain professional and Olivia wanting her privacy. As far as everyone in town knew, she and Arlo had just been hanging out as friends.

“Hi, Alice!” Olivia said cheerfully, walking up to the stand.

“It’s nice to see you, Olivia,” Alice said with a smile. “Is there anything that I can help you with?”

She felt her face grow hot, but she willed herself to continue with the transaction. She could do this.

“Um, I was wondering if Icouldbuyaheartknot,” she said, the last part of the sentence leaving her mouth so rapidly that it almost sounded like one word.

Alice looked at her for a second, looking puzzled. “I didn’t quite catch that.”

Olivia leaned in closer to Alice before speaking in the softest voice she could muster.

“Can I buy a heart knot?” she repeated.

“Oh yes, of course!” Alice said with a nod. “Who’s the lucky guy?” she asked as she gingerly grabbed a heart knot from her display and handed it to Olivia.

Olivia just smiled and shrugged. She and Alice were friendly with one another, but Olivia didn’t really consider them to be friends. Alice was nice and wasn’t the type to gossip, but Olivia didn’t even fully trust Sam, her best friend, with this knowledge. Therefore, she absolutely did not trust Alice or anyone else with this knowledge. If all went according to plan tonight, the residents of Portia would know about their relationship soon enough.

“Well, I wish you the best of luck,” Alice said, unphased by Olivia’s lack of response.

“Thanks, Alice!” Olivia replied politely, pocketing the heart knot as she made her way back to her house. She wanted to complete a few commissions and tend to her garden before she got ready for her date tonight. Time seemed to fly by and before she knew it, there were only two hours remaining until she had to be at The Round Table.

She finished up her chores and started to prepare for the date. She wanted to look nice, but she also wanted to look casual. She got dressed, pulling on a pair of jeans and a blouse she had gotten before she had moved to Portia. After applying some light makeup, Olivia looked herself over in the mirror. She was ready. 

Looking at the clock, she noticed that she only had half an hour before the start of her date. She took one last look at herself before heading out the door. She wanted to give herself ample time to get there. She knew she would most likely beat Arlo there, but she preferred being early.

As she approached The Round Table, she felt nauseous. The weight of the heart knot was starting to burn a hole in her pocket. Taking a deep breath she reminded herself that everything would be okay. It was just Arlo. They had been friends prior to them going on dates and were comfortable with each other.

Ten minutes before their date was supposed to start, Olivia saw Arlo heading through town, walking towards her. She couldn’t help but smile when she saw him and she definitely could not help how her smile grew larger as he pulled her into a hug.

“You look beautiful, Liv,” he said, leaning down to plant a kiss on her cheek.

“You aren’t so bad yourself, Captain,” she teased. “Are you ready to head inside?”

Arlo nodded. “I’m starving, things were pretty chaotic today.”

They headed inside, following Django as he led them to their table.

“What made the day so chaotic?” Olivia questioned, eyes skimming over the menu.

Her date hadn’t even opened his. He probably already knew what he wanted to eat. If Olivia had to guess, it was a toss up between spaghetti with hot sauce or seafood noodles.

“Well, Higgins has been running us absolutely ragged with his commissions. I know it’s part of the job of being a member of the Civil Corps and I shouldn’t complain, but the man has been keeping us so busy lately that we haven’t really had time for much else. Today was the first day in a while that we were able to do our patrols. We did one in Eufaula Heights today and since it’s been about a week since we’ve been there, it was absolutely infested with pinecocks. It was a real pain in the arse,” Arlo replied, animatedly talking about his day.

“I’m sorry you guys had to deal with all of that. Hopefully Higgins gives you guys a break and you’ll actually have a chance to do the other parts of your job,” Olivia replied sympathetically.

“What about you? How was your day?”

“It wasn’t all that exciting, to be honest. I finished up a couple of commissions and then did some work in my garden.”

Django came over to take their orders, interrupting their conversation. Olivia ordered fried rice and Arlo ordered spaghetti with hot sauce. A smile crept up on her lips as he placed his order. He was either really predictable or Olivia had gotten to know him really well. She hoped it was the latter.

They ate their meals, keeping up a pleasant conversation. After they had left the restaurant, Arlo did a quick survey of the area to make sure there weren’t any other residents around. Satisfied with his results, he took Olivia’s hand and gave her a chaste kiss on the lips.

“Where to next?” Arlo questioned, gently swinging their intertwined hands back and forth.

“How about sitting under the Wishing Tree?” Olivia suggested, heart hammering loudly in her chest.

“That sounds perfect.”

Taking a seat on the bench in front of the Wishing Tree, Arlo wrapped an arm around Olivia’s waist and she rested her head on his shoulder. The night was absolutely gorgeous. It was the perfect temperature and the skies were clear, stars glistening overhead. Now would be the perfect time to give Arlo the heart knot.

As she thought about the best way to give him the heart knot, Olivia was starting to have some second thoughts. She really wanted to give it to him, but the fear of rejection was too strong. She had thoroughly enjoyed their time together and she wasn’t sure if she wanted to take the risk. They had been friends prior to their romantic involvement. It would suck if they no longer had a romantic relationship, but it would suck even more if she were to lose Arlo as a friend. The more she thought about it, the more Olivia convinced herself that she couldn’t do it.

No. She could do it. There was a very high chance that Arlo reciprocated her feelings. Judging by how their dates had gone and Arlo’s behavior towards her, he was probably falling as hard for her as she was for him.

She went to reach in her pocket to take out the heart knot wanting to give it to him quickly, as if she were ripping off a bandaid. If she were to wait any longer, she would give in to her anxiety and would overthink this whole thing. Her hand was halfway to her pocket when Arlo spoke, causing her to freeze.

“Let’s get you home, yeah?” he said, helping her off the bench.

She nodded, deflating and cursing herself for missing the perfect opportunity.

Arlo walked her home and they stood outside her front door for a few minutes, just talking. He was holding both of her hands and there was less than a foot of space between them.

“I had a lovely time tonight,” Arlo said. “I’m sorry that I had to cut it a bit short, I’m exhausted.”

“It’s okay,” Olivia smiled. “Go and get some sleep, we can always do this again another day.”

“Goodnight, Liv,” Arlo said, leaning down to give her a lingering kiss.

Olivia watched Arlo’s back as he left her workshop and headed to town. She was so angry with herself for chickening out. She knew that there would be other opportunities to confess her feelings for the captain, but the more she waited, the more time she had to overthink everything and talk herself out of confessing altogether.

Maybe it was time to ask Sam for some advice.

* * * * * * * * * * 

The next afternoon, Olivia made her way to Sam’s house for lunch. They tried to get together at least once a week, but it wasn’t always possible with their busy schedules. At this point, it had been more than two weeks since they last hung out and Olivia was excited. She was also slightly anxious. She was finally going to ask Sam for advice on how to confess her feelings to Arlo.

Walking up to Sam’s door, Olivia knocked and waited patiently for Sam to open it.

When Sam swung the door open, she greeted Olivia with an enthusiastic hug.

“Hey, kid!” she said, moving aside so Olivia could enter the house.

They went over to sit at the table to eat their lunch. Thankfully, Sam had already prepared the food.

As they ate, they caught each other up on everything that had been happening in their lives lately. Sam complained about how busy the Civil Corps had been with Higgins’s excessive requests for materials and Olivia talked about some interesting commissions she had completed.

There was a natural lull in the conversation as Sam paused to take a drink. It was now or never.

“Can I run something by you?” Olivia asked, absentmindedly playing with the hem of her shirt.

“Sure, what’s up?” Sam asked, giving Olivia her full attention.

Olivia took a deep breath. Sam was trustworthy and wouldn’t say anything to Arlo. She could do this.

“So you know how Arlo and I have been going on dates lately? Well, um, I’m thinking about giving him a heart knot,” she said apprehensively, waiting for Sam’s reaction.

“You are?!” Sam asked, her face lighting up.

Olivia nodded. “I actually tried to give it to him last night, but I chickened out. I don’t know what to do.”

“You were going to give it to him without telling me?! I’m offended,” Sam teased.

“I’m sorry,” she replied. “You’re my best friend and I trust you completely, but my anxiety got the best of me. I was afraid that you would slip up or something and tell Arlo that I was going to confess to him before I had the chance to actually do it.”

“No worries, I totally get it. So how are you planning on confessing to him?”

“I’m not sure. We went out to dinner and sat under the Wishing Tree afterwards. I was going to give it to him then, but before I was able to work up the courage, the date was over.”

“Well,” Sam started, “you guys could have a picnic in the field by your house.”

Olivia considered that for a second. “Wouldn’t it be a bit weird if I just sprung it on him mid-picnic? I wanted to tell him about my feelings for him under the Wishing Tree because it was romantic. But the walk from the field to the Wishing Tree is kind of long and it really isn’t practical to go all the way there”

“True. Maybe you guys could lay down together after your picnic and look at the stars? That’s pretty romantic!”

“That sounds like a good plan! I just have to find him and ask him to go on another date.”

They finished up their lunch and Olivia headed out. She gave Sam a hug before she left and as she was walking out the door, Sam gave her an encouraging pat on the back.

“Good luck! You got this, Liv!”

Olivia left Sam’s house and headed back to her workshop with a renewed confidence. She could do this!

She knew that Arlo was on patrol right now and that it would be a few hours before he was done. To pass the time, Olivia decided to go to the abandoned ruins. She needed to gather some copper ore in order to finish up copper blades for Merlin anyways. 

Arlo would probably be back at the Civil Corps building by the time she had finished up in the ruins. She would make her way there and ask him on a date for tomorrow night. It sounded like a good plan.

She went to her workshop and quickly changed into some crappy clothes. She made her way to the abandoned ruins, both anxious and eager to talk to Arlo.

* * * * * * * * * * 

Olivia left the abandoned ruins in a good mood having found more copper ore than she needed. It was well into the night at this point and Arlo would definitely be back at the Civil Corps building. She made her way there, mind racing a mile a minute.

Pushing open the doors, she surveyed the room and was surprised that Arlo wasn’t there. Maybe he had gone to bed early? She went to knock on his bedroom door but received no response.

She waited ten minutes for the captain to show up, but he did not. He was probably still making his nightly rounds. She was disappointed, but it wasn’t a huge deal. She could always talk to Arlo in the morning!

Making her way back to her workshop, Olivia paused as she heard a hushed conversation. It was pretty weird for anyone to be out at this hour, so she was intrigued. She followed the sound and found Arlo and Nora talking by the well. She was glad that he had finished his nightly duties and briefly considered going back to the Civil Corps building to wait for him. She watched them for a few moments and decided that she was going to go back and wait. She could always talk to him in the morning, but she was determined to ask him on this date before she talked herself out of it.

She was just about to turn around and start heading back to the Civil Corps, when she was stopped in her tracks by what Arlo did next.

It was almost as if time was going in slow motion. Her heart thudded in her chest, waves of nausea washing over her as Arlo pulled out a heart knot and gave it to Nora. Nora took it from him, beaming, before she pulled him into a hug.

Olivia just stood there in shock for a few moments, snapping back to her senses when she felt her eyes beginning to water. She started on a different route back to her house, hoping that the new couple wouldn’t notice her. When she got to an area where they wouldn’t be able to see her, she broke out into a run. 

Tears freely flowed down her cheeks as she threw open the door to her workshop. She felt like a fool. She had genuinely thought that there was really something between her and Arlo and that he reciprocated the feelings that she was starting to develop for him. But she was wrong. So wrong. 

She wanted nothing more than to curl up in bed, but she knew she had to take a shower to wash off the grime that had accumulated on her during her expedition into the abandoned ruins. Stripping off her clothes, Olivia turned on the water, making it as hot as she could stand it.

She stood in the shower, looking blankly at the wall as the water washed over her body. The scene kept replaying in her mind and she released a choked sob before completely breaking down. She felt so stupid.

Considering the nature of their relationship, she didn’t think she had a right to be upset. She and Arlo weren’t actually dating, they had gone on several dates, but that was it. He had every right to be spending time with both her and Nora and then proceed to choose her. It felt like a dick move on his part, but he was single and had every right to do as he pleased.

Getting out of the shower, Olivia went to her bed, cocooning herself in blankets. Her tears had slowed and she wanted desperately to fall asleep so she could forget about what she had seen tonight. It hurt so damn bad. 

As she was drifting off to sleep, Olivia told herself that she was only allowed to be upset about this for one day and would then have to move on. But she knew that she was kidding herself. It would take a lot longer than a day for her to even feel remotely okay.

* * * * * * * * * * 

The next day, Olivia was planning to spend the entire day at her workshop just working on commissions. She had no desire to head into town on the off chance that she bumped into either Arlo or Nora. She really didn’t want to talk to either of them, but she didn’t even really want to talk to anyone, to be perfectly honest.

The scene from last night kept replaying in her mind, heart panging in her chest and a fresh set of tears forming in her eyes every time she thought about it. She knew that she was tormenting herself, but she felt like she deserved it, chiding herself for being so stupid. She was an idiot for even thinking that Arlo was falling for her as much as she was falling for him. She tried once again to convince herself that she had no right to be this upset. She and Arlo weren’t officially dating and he could do as he pleased. Trying to convince herself didn’t help, at all. It just made her miserable as she fixated on this situation that had gone horribly wrong.

She was in the middle of finishing up the copper blades when she saw Sam leaving town, most likely heading to her daily patrol. Olivia silently pleaded that Sam wouldn’t stop and talk to her and that she would just keep going, but luck was not on her side. As Sam approached her, she tried to compose herself, plastering a cheery smile on her face.

“Hey, Liv! Did you talk to him yet? How did it go?” Sam asked, standing outside of the workshop’s fence.

Olivia felt her face fall and she willed herself to remain calm. She was determined to not cry in front of Sam, but her eyes seemed to miss the memo as they watered, tears threatening to spill over.

“What’s wrong?” Sam questioned, looking at her with concern.

“Nothing, it’s just allergies,” she replied, forcing a smile even though she knew tears were starting to run down her face.

“No, it’s not. You don’t usually get allergies this time of year. What happened?”

She cursed the fact that Sam knew her so well. It was both a blessing and a curse.

If she was being honest with herself, she didn’t really want to talk to Sam about what she had seen just yet. Sam was her best friend, but she was Arlo’s friend too. She had absolutely no doubt in her mind that her outspoken friend would confront Arlo if she caught wind of what had happened. She knew that she would have to tell Sam and deal with this situation eventually, but she didn’t want to deal with it right now. She still wasn’t sure what she wanted to do. Was she going to slowly distance herself from Arlo, making it a point not to mention what had transpired at the well? Or was she going to confront Arlo about what she had seen?

She took a deep breath before answering Sam. “Can we talk about it later? I-I don’t think I can handle it quite yet.”

“Okay. But Liv, please don’t just sit here and dwell on this alone. Let me help you. It doesn’t have to be right this second, but please tell me what’s going on when you’re ready.”

“I will, I promise,” Olivia replied, wiping her eyes.

“I have to get going, but I’ll talk to you later?”

“Yeah, talk to you later.”

Olivia watched Sam’s retreating form as she made her way towards the bridge that led to Amber Island. She wiped at her eyes furiously, trying to stop herself from crying. But it didn’t work.

She stopped where she was, not quite finishing the copper blades she had been working on. Instead, she headed into her house, quietly shutting the door behind her. She tried reminding herself again that she was only allowed to be upset about this for one day and then she would have to move on. Deep down she knew that she was only kidding herself.

* * * * * * * * * * 

The following day, Olivia had absolutely no choice but to head into town. Merlin’s commission had to be delivered by today. As she made her way through town, her eyes darted around nervously, hoping that she wouldn’t bump into Arlo or Nora.

She was convinced that she was the most unlucky person in the world when she spotted Arlo walking towards her. Not knowing what to do, she quickly turned around and started speed walking in the opposite direction. She hoped that he would be too preoccupied with his job to stop and chat and cursed under her breath when she heard him calling her name.

“Hey, Liv!” Arlo called, jogging up to her.

“Hi,” she said, painting a smile on her face.

“I’ve been meaning to ask you, but haven’t had the time. Do you want to meet me at The Round Table for dinner tonight?”

Olivia internally screamed. Why was he still trying to keep up this facade?! He was officially dating Nora and there was absolutely no reason to continue stringing her along. Maybe he just wanted to talk to her and tell her that he and Nora were dating? She knew that she couldn’t handle this conversation quite yet and made up her mind that she was going to try and avoid having it.

“I can’t, I’m busy,” she answered, pointedly not looking at him.

“Okay, it is a bit last minute. What about tomorrow?”

Olivia paused before speaking, “I-I’m busy then too. Sorry.”

“Is there a day that would work for you then?” Arlo asked, undeterred.

“Probably not for a while, I’ve been super busy lately,” she lied, forcing a reassuring smile.

“Oh okay, well let me know when you’re able to,” Arlo answered, looking disappointed and a bit sad before he carefully neutralized his face again.

“I have to go deliver something to Merlin. I’ll talk to you later.”

Olivia headed towards the Research Center, hoping that Arlo wouldn’t follow her. He didn’t.

* * * * * * * * * * 

A couple days later Olivia needed to gather some more materials from the abandoned ruins. Unfortunately, on her way there, she saw Arlo again.

She had a feeling that he would try and talk to her, so she tried to prepare herself for their inevitable conversation. What would he even say to her? What would she say to him?

As soon as Arlo spotted her, he began to jog over. “Hey, Liv! I haven’t seen you around lately. How have you been?”

“Fine, what about you?” she replied curtly, trying to be polite.

“I’ve been okay. I may be looking too much into things, but is everything okay? I never see you around town anymore.”

Olivia’s stomach dropped. She was hoping that he would be too preoccupied with Nora to notice her absence.

“Yeah, everything is okay,” she replied. “I’ve just been really busy, that’s all.”

“Ah, I understand. Well whenever you get the chance, feel free to stop by the Civil Corps building. I’m always happy to see you.”

She felt her heart burn with a combination of hurt and rage. Why did he even need to spend time with her?! He had Nora.

“I will,” she assured him, having no intention of actually visiting him.

* * * * * * * * * * 

Olivia was working in her yard the following morning when she spotted all three members of the Civil Corps making their way towards her. As they approached her workshop, Remington was the first to speak.

“We’re sorry to bother you, Liv,” he smiled. “But we have been getting some reports of bandirat activity in the Amber Island cave. Since you were the one to deal with it last time, we were hoping you would lend us some of your expertise.”

She really didn’t want to help them because seeing Arlo still made her feel like she was drowning in anguish, but she didn’t want to leave Sam and Remington hanging.

“Yeah, I can help you guys,” she replied, nauseous with anxiety as she thought about what this mission might entail.

They made quick work of the Amber Island cave, eradicating all of the bandirats in record time. The entire time they were in there, she did not speak to Arlo unless it was absolutely necessary. She didn’t even go near him. She only really spoke to Sam and Remington and stayed close to them as they worked to clear out the cave.

She noticed that as their task carried on, Sam and Remi were watching her curiously, perplexed by her behavior. She knew that they were bound to ask questions and she really wasn’t looking forward to answering them. Thankfully, Remington hadn’t asked her any questions, but unfortunately, Sam did. When they had a private moment, Sam pulled Olivia away from the group. She asked her why she was avoiding Arlo and wanted to know what had happened between them. This was the first time that she had asked about what happened since she first talked to Olivia about it. Olivia assured Sam that she would tell her everything when they finished clearing out the cave, wanting to have this conversation privately. She had little desire to talk about what had happened at the well, but she knew that she needed to finally come clean to Sam and tell her what she had seen.

As they finished up the mission and left the cave, Olivia tried her best to hurry away from the group before Arlo had a chance to confront her about her behavior. He absolutely had to have figured out that she was purposely avoiding him. Her excuse of being extremely busy would no longer work.

“Alright, bye guys!” Olivia said, just about to turn and walk away when Arlo’s voice stopped her dead in her tracks.

“Why are you avoiding me, Olivia?” Arlo questioned, looking at her with a mixture of concern and hurt. It made her heart clench painfully to see him like that, but she knew that he was the one to blame for how she had been treating him.

“I’m not,” she said. “I have to go, see you later guys.” She began to walk away, but Arlo grabbed her hand before she had the chance.

“Please just talk to me,” he pleaded.

“There’s nothing to talk about,” she answered, trying to pull her hand away from him.

“What do you mean? Did I come on too strong or something? I thought that things were going well and that we really had a connection.”

Olivia began to feel her blood boil. “That’s funny, because I did too,” she scoffed, finally pulling her hand away, crossing her arms as she looked at Arlo.

“What?”

She tried to prevent herself from saying what she was about to say, but her attempt was in vain. Everything came out like word vomit, her pent up hurt and anger becoming too much to bear. “You don’t have to keep pretending that you want to go on dates with me. We can just drop it.”

“But I do want to go on dates with you! I don’t understand what you’re talking about.”

“Arlo, please stop lying to me. I am not stupid. Just leave it alone, it’s fine, no hard feelings,” she said, starting to cry. She barely registered that Sam and Remington were standing behind them, watching the scene unfold. She had briefly forgotten that they were there, too wrapped up in her conversation with Arlo. She really didn’t want to do this in front of them, but it was too late. She was embarrassed that they had witnessed this conversation, making an already uncomfortable and awkward situation even worse.

Arlo just stood there watching her in silence, eyebrows furrowed. She knew she had caught him in his lie. Now that he had been called out, he didn’t know how to react. She watched him for a few seconds, hoping that he would say something, but he didn’t.

Her breathing was getting heavy and she started crying even harder. She turned and began running to her house, desperate to get away from this situation.

As she was running, she was so wrapped up in her thoughts that she immediately halted as she felt someone grab her arm.

“Fuck you! Don’t touch me!” she snapped, thinking that Arlo had been the one to grab her. She looked over and noticed that it was Sam instead of Arlo. She was both relieved and disappointed.

“It’s just me,” Sam said, letting go of her arm and putting her hands up defensively. “What’s going on?”

At her best friend’s words, Olivia’s emotional dam completely shattered. She was so upset that she had started to ugly cry, tears and snot running down her face as she wept.

“I’m so stupid, S-Sam,” she answered, beginning to walk towards her workshop with Sam.

“You’re not stupid, what happened?” Sam prompted, putting her arm around Olivia’s shoulder as she walked alongside her.

Olivia didn’t speak again until they had entered her house. 

“You k-know how I came to your h-house the other day and w-we talked about me giving A-Arlo a heart knot?”

Sam nodded, silent as she waited for Olivia to continue.

“So I went t-to the abandoned r-ruins that night and then went to the Civil Corps building to t-try and talk to Arlo. He wasn’t t-there and on my way home, I-I saw Arlo giving a heart knot to Nora. I mean, w-we weren’t actually dating so he can give a heart knot to whoever he wants r-right? But he keeps a-asking me to go on dates and I just don’t get it. He’s already picked her. Why is he trying to k-keep up the guise that there’s something between us?! I really t-thought there was, but he doesn’t feel the same. I feel l-like he’s just trying to play me for a fool and I can’t take it anymore. I just w-want him to let it go and leave m-me alone.”

Sam’s expression switched from concerned to pure, unadulterated rage in an instant. She rarely got angry and the few times that Olivia had seen her mad were nothing compared to right now. If Sam’s rage was directed at her, she would have been absolutely terrified.

“I’ll be right back,” Sam said, getting up off the couch.

“No, it’s okay S-Sam!” Olivia called, trying to prevent her friend from leaving. But she was too late, Sam was out the door before she had even finished her sentence.

Olivia sighed before grabbing a blanket from her bed, wrapping it around herself as she sat back down on the couch. This was going to be a mess.

* * * * * * * * * * 

After about 15 minutes that had felt like hours, she heard a knock on her door. She got up to answer it, grateful that Sam was already back.

She opened the door and was slightly shocked when she saw Remington standing outside.

“Hi, Remi,” she said, looking up at him. It wasn’t like she wasn’t happy to see him. Remington was her friend, but he was also Arlo’s best friend. She was slightly suspicious that he had come here with an ulterior motive.

“Hey, Liv,” he smiled. “I just wanted to check on you and make sure that you’re okay.”

“I’m okay,” she replied.

“Look, I don’t mean to pry and I don’t know the whole situation, but Sam stormed into the Civil Corps building more angry than I’ve ever seen her.”

“Hell hath no fury like pissed off Sam,” she joked, trying to break the awkward tension. “What happened?”

“Well,” he paused. “She came in and called Arlo a tall fucking asshole with a lot of nerve and then just went off on him. Arlo just quietly sat there, it’s not like Sam gave him the opportunity to speak, but he didn’t even make an effort to talk. I had to get between them and tell Sam to go take a walk to cool down. When I left, she had come back and they were having a relatively calm conversation.”

“Oh,” Olivia said, not knowing what else to say.

“Like I said, I don’t know the whole situation, I just know bits and pieces of it. I do know that Arlo cares about you a lot and he would never intentionally do anything to hurt you. Whatever happened, it was probably just a misunderstanding. I think you should talk to him about it.”

Ah, so he did have an ulterior motive.

“I don’t know,” she replied, “it didn’t really look like a misunderstanding to me.”

“Just think about it, okay?”

Olivia was relieved when she saw Sam appear behind Remington in the doorway. Sam gently touched his arm, prompting Remington to turn around and look at her.

“Sam,” he said curtly. “I’ll talk to you later, Olivia.” The girls watched his retreating form as he headed back towards town.

“So I talked to Arlo and the man is a fucking idiot,” Sam said, going to take a seat on the couch.

“What do you mean? What did he say?” Olivia questioned, sitting down next to Sam.

“I think that you should talk to him about it.”

“What? Why can’t you just tell me what he said?”

“I think it’s better if you hear it from him, kid. It really isn’t my place to say anything.”

Olivia sighed and nodded in acceptance. If both Remington and Sam thought that she should talk to Arlo maybe it was something that she should seriously consider.

* * * * * * * * * * 

Once Olivia had made up her mind about talking to Arlo, she waited an additional day. She wasn’t exactly looking forward to talking to him, but she knew she had to.

It was relatively early in the morning when Olivia left her house. Typically, Arlo would still be at the Civil Corps building, getting in some training before working on any commissions or going on his daily patrol. She was almost there, working through what she was going to say to Arlo when she saw him walking towards her.

“Hi, Liv,” he said with a strained smile.

“Hey, I was just about to come and find you,” she replied, hating how awkward their conversation felt.

“I was just about to find you too,” he said with a genuine smile. “I think we should talk about some things, yeah?”

“I think we should too, but we should probably go somewhere a little more private.”

Because it was the closest to where they were, Olivia and Arlo headed into the Civil Corps building, going into Arlo’s bedroom and sitting on his bed.

“I’m sorry that Sam told you off,” Olivia said apologetically.

“Don’t apologize, I totally deserved it. So what Sam told me is that you saw me giving Nora a heart knot by the well. This sounds really cliche and you probably won’t believe me, but it wasn’t what it looked like.”

They sat in a tense silence for a few moments before Arlo continued.

“Nora and I are just friends. I have really enjoyed all of the time that I’ve spent with you and I wanted to take the next step in our relationship. I didn’t know how to go about getting to that next step and wanted a girl’s opinion. I didn’t want to ask Sam because you guys are really close and I was afraid that she would tell you about my feelings for you. Since, Nora is my only other female friend, I decided to ask her. She and I had been talking by the well that night about how I could give you a heart knot. She hugged me as a means of encouragement. There is nothing going on between Nora and I. I promise.”

Olivia felt her stomach drop. This was all just a huge misunderstanding.

“I feel so stupid,” she mumbled, looking at him with regret. If she had talked to him earlier about giving Nora a heart knot this whole situation could have been avoided.

“Don’t,” he reassured, taking her hand in his. “I would have thought the exact same thing if I saw you giving a heart knot to someone.”

Arlo pulled Olivia towards him, kissing her forehead. They sat in a comfortable silence for a few minutes before Arlo got up and went over to his dresser.

He took something out of his drawer and turned around to look at her, showing her the object he had clutched in his hand. It was a heart knot.

“I’d like to give this to you, that is, if you’re still interested.”

Olivia smiled and pulled her own heart knot out of her pocket. She had intended on giving it to him after they had talked.

Arlo beamed at her, going over to her and exchanging the heart knots in both of their hands. “So I’m taking that as a yes?”

“Yes,” Olivia confirmed, pulling him down to kiss him.

Their small kiss quickly escalated and soon she was laying back on the bed, Arlo hovering over her. Arlo had begun to suck new hickeys into her neck in places that were a lot more visible. She managed to give him a couple hickeys before he captured her lips with his again. Olivia wanted him so bad. She was about to reach up and pull Arlo’s shirt off when they heard the door to the building being opened.

Arlo pulled away, looking at her apologetically. “Duty calls, Liv. Let me take care of whatever it is and then we can continue, if you want.”

Out of curiosity and a touch of annoyance, Olivia followed Arlo out of his bedroom. She was assuming it was Higgins, coming to place a commission on the board.

It was just Sam and Remington that had walked through the door.

Sam’s eyes flicked between the two of them, surveying their kiss swollen lips and the bruises that were decorating their necks. She made eye contact with them and smirked, waggling her eyebrows suggestively.

“So I’m assuming that you guys figured things out,” she teased.

Olivia flipped Sam off, positive that her face was glowing a bright crimson.

“I guess you could say that,” Arlo chuckled, running a hand through his hair.

“I’m glad, you both deserve to be happy,” Remington said with a smile of encouragement.

Olivia knew that she and Arlo would be very happy together and she was ecstatic that they were going to explore the next phase of their relationship. She was grateful that there was just a misunderstanding and that things had worked out in the end. The best was yet to come.


End file.
